The Google My Business API is changing the Local Ecosystem

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The new Google My Business API has made it easier for listings providers (brands or partnering agencies) to update information more seamlessly and efficiently across mass amounts of listed store locations. Now we can't help but assume that with all these benefits,it now be possible to bring Google listing management to a far greater audience. Today on Street Fight, I explain how this experiment with local by Google won't be another Google Plus-like situation (with a lack of adoption or growth).

The API rollout has not been an unfettered process, however. As a result of some recent testing, we have noted that at this point some manual measures must be taken to successfully ensure verification, duplicate suppression, resolve ownership conflict and respond to reviews. Moreover, what Google considers to be 'core' information still takes longer to process than other API-pushed data like store hours.

Overall, this experimental release on Google's part points to the trends that solutions providers forsee as consumer expectations and demands become more real time.

As a marketer, what are your thoughts on the Google My Business API roll out? Read my full feature on Street Fight to decide how you will integrate it into your strategy.